Frozen Smile
by FieryFafar
Summary: Photographs are created to make beautiful memories together.


Photographs are created to make beautiful memories together.

They exist so that humans can keep those memories in their hearts in all eternity.

Even when one is lost, in the end, all they have are photographs; letting them reminisce the love of it all.

"Yayy! This picture is cute!" Kotone cheered in joy, flailing the picture in her hand. Silver sighed bitterly by her side. Lately, the young woman picked up a habit: Taking pictures. Everywhere they go. Whatever the situation. Kotone would find a chance and snap pictures. He glanced at the jumping brunette. "Would you stop jumping?"

Kotone looked at her beloved rival. A pretty smile curved her lips. "Aww, don't be grumpy Silvy. Look." She flashed the photo of them in front of his face. "You look cute too. Although it would have been cuter if you smiled."

The redhead growled bitterly. He was never one to take photos. He hates it at times. The young man glanced at his picture. In the image, Kotone was smiling – as usual – while he was rubbing his forehead in irritated dizziness. A dry chuckle burst from his lips. "Whatever."

Her lips changed from a smile to an annoyed frown. "Cranky." She ruffled his red hair, in which Silver swatted her hand away. Sharp Silver eyes glared irritatingly at his rival. But as soon as he heard her soothing giggle, it calmed him down. Feeling the heat rushing to his face, Silver huffed bashfully and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Kotone asked curiously. Sneasel hopped from her shoulder to his trainer. Without peeking a glance, Silver replied, "I'm going to the Dragon's Den. I have training today."

_Oh right,_ Kotone thought. _It is Monday today._"Want me to come with you?" She skipped behind him, following Silver. But her footsteps stopped as the boy halted in his tracks. A heavy sigh escaped his mouth.

Turning around, Silver looked at Kotone lazily. "Kotone, if you come, then it'll be hard for me to train. Besides, you're annoying."

The petite brunette frowned again. "Fine." She held her arms, head down in sorrow. Typhlosion grunted sourly and nuzzled his nose on Kotone's waist, consoling her.

Things Silver had developed when he met Kotone: He will be restless if he saw her crying. "Kotone, come on. Don't act all sad."

Kotone shook her head slowly. "I'm not sad…" The girl turned around, ready to walk away. But the tug on her wrist said otherwise.

"Look," he snarled under his clenched teeth. "How about…I'll see you tonight? At Goldenrod park? Happy?"

In a split second, Kotone spun around and pounced on the stunned Silver. "Yayy! It's a date!" She squealed in his ear. Silver swore, if her voice pitched a little louder, he had gone deaf. She released her grip, but letting her arms wrapped around his neck. "See you tonight, Silvy Wilvy." Without warning, she tiptoed and planted a quick kiss on his nose. Timid giggles danced through her lips as Kotone ran off.

Silver, on the other hand, was left in a blank state of mind. It took him a few minutes to come back to reality. The boy massaged his forehead, feeling lightheaded and dizzy again. "Why am I doing these kinds of things to myself…?"

He glared as Sneasel chuckled amusingly at the redhead's 'misery'.

_**O.O.O**_

It was 8 at night. A few people were walking around the park. There on bench, sat a beautiful young girl all dressed in a white and pink sundress. Her legs waved joyously, happily waiting for her date. Typhlosion sat by her swaying legs, chuckling in amusement.

"Silvy Wilvy," she giggled wistfully at the thought of his name. Kotone pushed back a strand of hair and let it rest behind her ear. Suddenly, she remembered all her photos with him. Giggling like a little girl, Kotone took some out of her purse and glanced at the pictures.

Photos of them together, photos of him alone, photos of him trying to get off Feraligatr's death glomp: All were in Kotone's hands. She couldn't help but laugh at them. The brunette smiled sweetly, her face flushed in joy. Her thumb caressed the picture of the redhead's face. "I love you…" she muttered silently. Her heart pounded at the thought of him. Yes. All the pictures in her hands were their memories together. All were snapped and stitched in perfect harmony, strengthening her mind of them spent together.

And those memories will stay in her heart forever.

"Hello little lady."

Kotone looked upwards, seeing an old woman smiling at her. "Oh, hi." she said in surprise. The elderly giggled at her adorable face.

"You look like an angel. Are you waiting for somebody?"

Kotone looked at the woman, and smiled bashfully. "Yes. I'm kinda waiting for my…for someone." She wanted to say 'boyfriend', but seeing that they were unofficial and Kotone was a bit lost at his own feelings, she decided to improvise.

The elderly chuckled again. Her black eyes stared at the photos in the child's hands. "You love to take pictures, do you?"

Kotone nodded eagerly. "Why yes! They're very fun!"

The woman was beginning to love the teenager's perky attitude. "That's great to hear! If that's the case, then how about I snap you a picture?"

Kotone stared at the lady in pleasant curiosity. She then looked at the camera in her hands. The second she saw it, Kotone was in awe. It was a Polaroid camera, but it looked different than any camera she had ever seen. It looked like an antique. It was square in shape and metallic. A brown cloth was placed on the device. The lens was slightly long and wide. A few dusts were seen on it.

The brunette gawked at the woman. "You…you want to take my picture?" she asked dumbfoundedly. Kotone stared at the machine again, mind contemplating on whether it actually worked or not.

"You know. This camera possesses special powers."

That attracted her attention. Kotone stared at the old lady, eyes wide. "Special powers? What special powers?"

The lady laughed amusingly. "If you want to know, I'll show you." She lifted her camera, giving Kotone an assuring look. The brunette bit her lower lip, her mind now contemplating on whether she would wait for Silver first, or find out about the 'special powers' herself. She looked at her Pokégear. Kotone scrolled down her contacts, until she saw the name 'Silver'.

She clicked 'call', and waited for the other end to answer. But to her dismay, there was only ringing. _He must be on his way._Kotone sighed quietly. Silver would never ditch on her, right? Looking at the woman, the girl flashed a bright smile. "Alright, I would like to take a picture, please."

The woman nodded in joy. "Great! Now, stay still child. This only takes 10 seconds…"

**_O.O.O_**

Silver dashed in a hurry. Thanks to Lance's intensive training today, he was being held later than expected. The redhead growled bitterly as he ran around Goldenrod City. Even though it was night time, the city was still buzzing with people and Pokémon. Silver looked at his Pokégear. There were five miss calls and he didn't need to click 'more' to know who it was from.

_If I pick up, she's gonna nag like hell._Silver grumbled mentally. Even so, he couldn't stop smiling every time the vision of Kotone danced in his head. Silver huffed sourly. As much as he hates to admit it, he loves her. He loves her so much that he irks himself.

Still, as much as she annoys him, at the same time, he couldn't live without her.

"Kotone," he mumbled unwarily. With a fully distracted thought and in a complete haste, Silver crossed the busy road.

_**O.O.O**_

Kotone called again.

And again.

And again.

Sadly, no response.

She grunted angrily. "Where is he…?" Kotone looked at Typhlosion, who just gave her an 'I-don't-know' shrug. The brunette clenched her Pokégear. Suddenly, before she could groan some more, an ambulance sped past her. Kotone looked out of curiosity, along with her fire starter. The ambulance was heading for the busy streets of the city. _Must be an accident._

"Here you go, dearie."

Kotone looked to her left. The old lady smiled blissfully, a photo in her hands. "You look absolutely beautiful in this picture, my dear."

Kotone giggled bashfully, scratching the back of her head. "Thanks ma'am."

"And I have to say, the man in this photo looks very dashing. I am envious of you." The lady chuckled sweetly.

But Kotone froze in stupor. "What?" What man? She took the photo alone. How can there be a man?

Without a word, the old lady handed Kotone her photo. The brunette quickly took it and stared at the image with wide eyes.

The second her eyes looked at it, her heart stopped.

In the photo was a picture of Kotone sitting on a bench. Yes. But what baffled her more was the _man_ behind her. But not just any man, it was _Silver._The redhead was standing behind her, body leaned forward, and his arms wrapped around her shoulder.

Kotone quickly snapped her body around, looking around the dark park. There were still people, but no Silver. What's more odd, when the woman took the picture, she didn't even feel a touch or a breath. So it was impossible for Silver to be standing behind her, hugging her without Kotone realizing it.

"It's a shame though. A man so young and charming to leave this world at such a young age."

Not only her heart, but her breath had stopped for two seconds. Kotone gawked incredulously at the old lady. "What…" she gasped faintly. "What do you mean…?"

The elderly tilted her head in confusion. She then clasped her hands together. "Ah, I forgot to tell you. Remember the special powers I told you? This camera my dear-" She held the antique machinery. "-can reveal the ones that you love the most. But this camera can only show you the person that is not present in this world anymore. In other words, it shows you their ghosts."

A split second.

One split second.

The world around her stopped.

Frozen.

"B-but…" Kotone stammered roughly, the picture violently shaking in her hand. "G-ghost…? How can…? But he's not...How…?" Suddenly, she froze. The sight of the ambulance danced in her mind. The ambulance was heading towards the bustling road.

She then gawked in horror at the picture. Her eyes weren't fooling her. The old lady wasn't fooling her. That was actually Silver in the photo; hugging her from behind.

"N-no…" Her voice was getting faint; almost a dead whisper. Her eyes began to swell up. Her body trembled viciously like a maniac. "No…" Out of panic, she released her Charizard. Typhlosion, Charizard and even the lady were shocked at Kotone's act. The blaze Pokémon stared at her trainer in worry.

"Heart of the city. Now!" Kotone jumped on her Pokémon, body still shaking horribly. As worry and fear still sipped into Charizard's heart, she obeyed and took the night sky.

'Hey! Wait up!' Typhlosion dashed on all four, chasing the two girls.

_**O.O.O**_

As soon as they arrived in the middle of the city, they froze to see everyone was huddling around the road. The ambulance from minutes ago and even police cars were seen from the scene. Without a word, Kotone hopped from her Charizard and rammed through the large amount of crowd.

'Kotone!' Both fire starters shouted their trainer's name in complete worry.

Finally, Kotone stopped in the middle of the huge circle. Three cars were seen; all squashed and crumpled up like paper. Two cars were stacked like bricks while the other one crashed onto a pole, which was already bent like a twig.

But her breath was cut off completely to see a person lying on the road; soaked in a pool of dark red blood, and covered with a red and black jacket.

_Silver._His name buzzed in her head like a horrid eulogy, dizzying her.

"Silver!" Kotone finally cried out loud. Her legs were like jelly, yet able to dash towards the lifeless body. Sadly, a policeman held Kotone, halting her from moving any further.

"Careful lady! This is a restricted, dangerous zone. You must back off." The policeman said sternly, trying to hold the wiggling Kotone.

But all Kotone could see; all she could think of was the love of her life lying like a decapitated doll. "Silver! No!" she yelled again, getting more and more frantic. Her round hazel eyes gawked in trauma as she saw some paramedics carrying Silver and placing him on a bed. Her heart dropped and exploded as a bloody hand – with two fingers cruelly missing – dropped from its wrap and dangled lifelessly as they pushed him inside the ambulance.

"_No!_" Kotone shouted again, vocal chords breaking from the agonizing impact. While all awhile she struggled, the newfound snapped photo slipped from her hand.

The photo showed of Kotone, sitting on a bench with a happy smile on her face. But not only that, there stood Silver, his arms wrapping around her shoulder from behind. The young man leaned his head on her neck, hiding his expression.

But if one changes the angle of their vision to their right, they could see something faint; something that Silver had never done before in all his life while taking photos.

A genuine smile.

_**END.**_


End file.
